South Korea's finance minister called for lawmakers on Wednesday to accelerate their efforts to pass pending bills initiated by the government to boost the overall economy. "Over the past eight months, the government has worked hard to boost the economy and strengthen its fundamentals but such efforts have not resulted in helping how people actually feel (in their lives)," Finance Minister Hyun Oh-seok told a meeting with other policymakers here. "This is blamed much on uncertain economic situat

Oct. 23, 2013

Unionized workers at three branches of Seoul National University Hospital went on strike early Wednesday morning, demanding a pay raise and better working conditions.The action came after the labor and management of the hospital failed to reach a deal on the demands. It is the first time in six years that the hospital's labor union has taken the collective action."With the minimum level of manpower remaining at work for critical services, including the emergency and intensive-care rooms, 350 to

Social Affairs Oct. 23, 2013

A special U.N. panel looking into North Korea's human rights abuses said Monday it will hold public hearings here next week to be attended by several experts. The two-day session from Wednesday is part of efforts by the Commission of Inquiry (COI) to gather information from witnesses addressing human rights violations alleged to have occurred in the secretive North.The three-member body, led by retired Australian Judge Michael Kirby, conducted similar events in Seoul and Tokyo in August, followe

North Korea Oct. 23, 2013

A ranking Seoul prosecutor requested an internal inspection into himself Tuesday after allegations arose that he had ordered his subordinates to tone done their ongoing investigation into a high-profile election meddling scandal involving the state intelligence agency.The move comes a day after a senior prosecutor, who formerly headed the investigation team into the scandal, testified during a parliamentary audit that Cho Young-kon, the head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, has

Social Affairs Oct. 22, 2013

North Korea has about 130 readily deployable hovercraft in its coastal waters, and its leader Kim Jong-un has regularly observed amphibious assault trainings targeted at South Korea, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) here said Tuesday.North Korea has 70 deployable air-cushion vehicles on its west coast and 60 of the amphibious vehicle in the east at its four hovercraft bases, the JCS said in a report to the parliament. The hovercraft can carry about 40 commandos at speeds of up to 96 kilometer per

North Korea Oct. 22, 2013

South Korean stocks traded 0.32 percent lower late Tuesday morning due to losses in techs and financial shares, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 6.58 points to 2,046.43 as of 11:20 a.m.Tech shares lost ground, with market behemoth Samsung Electronics falling 1.64 percent and top chipmaker SK hynix losing 3.37 percent. Local handset maker LG Electronics also shed 0.99 percent.Financial firms traded bearish, with Shinhan Financial decreasing 3.29 percent a

Oct. 22, 2013

The main opposition party's leader demanded Tuesday that President Park Geun-hye apologize over allegations of outside pressure in a prosecution investigation into suspicions the state intelligence agency meddled in last year's presidential election.Democratic Party leader Kim Han-gil issued the demand a day after a senior prosecutor leading the investigation into the scandal testified during a parliamentary meeting that his team has been under constant pressure not to aggressively pursue the pr

Politics Oct. 22, 2013

An international forensic team has confirmed the identities of three South Korean nationals killed in last week's plane crash in Laos, Seoul's foreign ministry said Tuesday.The Lao airplane crashed into the Mekong River amid bad weather last week, killing all 49 passengers and crewmembers on board, including three South Korean businessmen. "According to the forensic team on the site, three bodies recovered from the river were found to be South Koreans," the foreign ministry said in a brief state

Social Affairs Oct. 22, 2013

Former International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn will be visiting Korea next week to attend an economic forum, the organizing think tank said Tuesday. The French economist is scheduled to appear at an economic forum to be hosted by the Institute for Global Economics on Oct. 30 and will give a speech on global economic trends and governance overall, the institute said. His visit to Seoul is only to attend the conference, and he will return to Paris as soon as the

People Oct. 22, 2013

South Korea's exports to Japan have declined sharply this year as the Japanese yen's weakness, coupled with a stronger Korean won, has reduced demand for Korean goods, data showed on Tuesday.Shipments to Japan declined 13.32 percent on-year in August this year, dropping for the seventh consecutive month, according to the data compiled by the Korea International Trade Association.Exports to Japan accounted for 5.94 percent of South Korea's total outbound shipments in August, also down from 7.7 pe

Oct. 22, 2013

South Korean stocks opened lower Tuesday as investors sat on the sidelines ahead of the announcement of the United States' jobs data for September slated for later this week, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) moved down 3.11 points, or 0.15 percent, to 2,049.90 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Shares lost ground across the board, with market behemoth Samsung Electronics falling 1.02 percent and No. 1 carmaker Hyundai Motor losing 0.38 percent. Leading chipma

Oct. 22, 2013

A top U.S. Army commander in charge of the Asia-Pacific region said Friday the current schedule for the transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON) of Korean forces from Washington to Seoul is "realistic," but further assessment is needed to determine whether it's appropriate in terms of political realities.Army Gen. Vincent Brooks, commanding general of U.S. Army Pacific, said a proper timeframe from the military perspective is a matter to be discussed by new South Korean and U.S. defense l

Defense Oct. 22, 2013

The delinquency ratio of loans extended by South Korean insurers inched up n August from a month earlier due mainly to growth in both corporate and household loans, the financial regulator said Tuesday. The average bad debt ratio of local life and non-life insurers came to 0.75 percent at the end of August, up 0.03 percentage point from the previous month, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). Compared with a year earlier, the figure dropped 0.1 percentage point from 0.85 percent

Oct. 22, 2013

South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor will voluntarily recall around 27,500 Genesis sedans sold in the United States, a company official said Monday as U.S. authorities opened a probe into their potential brake problems.Hyundai plans to notify the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) this week of the decision, company spokesman Miles Johnson said in an emailed statement.Dealers will change the brake fluid and inspect the electronic brake control modules of cars produced fro

Industry Oct. 22, 2013